MEMPHIS — Quarterback Patrick Pinkney has been at East Carolina longer than Skip Holtz.
That’s saying something considering Holtz is in his fifth season as the Pirates’ coach.
Pinkney, a sixth-year senior, will play his final game for East Carolina on Saturday against Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.
“It’s pretty comfortable, it’s pretty nice, because he’s seen a lot of football,” Holtz said of having a sixth-year player at quarterback. “There have been a lot of things thrown at him. There have been ups and downs as he’s gone through it.
“He’s a really mature young man. He handles himself extremely well. ... It gives you the ability to do an awful lot more on offense than you would with a younger guy.”
Pinkney, from Fayetteville, N.C., redshirted as a true freshman at East Carolina in 2004. A shoulder injury and subsequent surgery and rehabilitation sidelined him in 2005 and 2006 before he became a part-time starter in 2005, then took over the job last year.
East Carolina applied to the NCAA for a medical hardship on Pinkney’s behalf, and an extra year was granted last January, three weeks after Kentucky beat the Pirates 25-19 in the Liberty Bowl.
Pinkney said he wanted to return to lead East Carolina to a second consecutive Conference USA title and win the Liberty Bowl.
“I felt like I had no choice but to come back,” he said. “It feels good to be the old man,the veteran, on the field.”
Pinkney, 23, will make his 32nd career start Saturday with totals of 6,771 passing yards and 38 touchdowns with 21 interceptions. He also has rushed for 457 yards and five touchdowns.
“It’s not like we’re going to show him anything he hasn’t seen already, playing as long as he’s played,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said.
But Pinkney struggled the first half of this season. He completed 55.8 percent of his passes for an average of 178 yards the first six games - with 4 touchdowns and 6 interceptions - as the Pirates went 3-3.
In the next seven games, with East Carolina going 6-1, he completed 62.6 percent of his passes for average of 238.6 yards with 10 touchdowns and4 interceptions.
“I think Patrick early in the year really tried to do too much,” Holtz said. “I think he put too much on his shoulders and went out there and tried to make things happen instead of playing within the system.
“I think as the year went on, Patrick really started to settle down. He went back into making the read, taking what a defense gives him.
“He’s been very patient the second half of the season, doing a great job of managing the game.”
Pinkney graduated last year with a degree in health fitness and after football said he wants to work in cardiac rehabilitation. This fall, he took nine hours towards a master’s degree in sports management.
At 6-0, he’s short for a college quarterback, but Robinson said he does a good job of being mobile and finding open passing lanes.
“He has great feet, he can escape,” Robinson said. “He knows where he wants to take the ball.”
Holtz said there have been times he wishes Pinkney was more of a fiery leader but that his calm demeanor also is a strength.
“He doesn’t get rattled,” Holtz said. “It’s not like the pressure builds up on him. He’s a very cool customer.”
Conference USA champions have lost in the Liberty Bowl against SEC teams the previous two years. The Pirates have talked all week about breaking through against an SEC team.
“This is our time,” Pinkney said. “We’ve got the right pieces in place, and we’re determined to win.”
Sports, Pages 24 on 01/01/2010